Riding-harrow.



J. R. HOWELL.

RIDING HARROW.

' APPLICATION I'TLBD SEPT. 12, 1910. 1,008,9 1 5. Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH 50.,W4SHINUTON. D. C.

LR. HOWELL. RIDING HARROW.

A'PPLIOATION FILED BBPT.1Z, 1910.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

2 SBEBTSSHEET 2.

JOHN B. HOWELL, OF SPRINGFIELD, 'ILZINOIS.

RIDING-HARROW..

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1911.

Application filed September 12, 1910. Serial No. 581,568.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, JO N R.,I-IoWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangainon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Riding-Harrows; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to harrows being specifically directed to that type of harrow comprising adjustable, independently-movable sections.

The salient features of the invention reside in a pivotally-hung central section, hingedly connected to adjustable side sections, all of said sections being under the immediate control of the operator through the medium of forwardly and rearwardly operable levers.

The object of the invention is to provide a harrow including an oscillating central section, vertically adjustable in its supporting frame, which will automatically adapt itself, independently of the side sections, to the contour of the ground over which the harrow is passing, the extend of said oscillation being automatically limited. With this as the primary object of the invention it will now be described in the following specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan, partly in section, some of the parts being omitted. Fig. 2 is a front elevation. Fig. 3 is a broken top plan, partly in section, showing the means for pivotally hanging the central section and the means for limiting its oscillation. Fig. 4 is a broken side elevation of the means for operating the central section raising means. Fig. 5 is a plan of thesame. Fig. 6 is an enlarged, broken side elevation of one of the supporting frames. Fig. 7 is a broken section taken on line y y of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is an enlarged, broken horizontal section, partly in plan, taken through one of the supporting frames.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein are illustrated the details of the preferred form of my invention, and wherein like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, A and C dek note respectively side sections of my improved harrow, hingedly attached, by any preferred means, as by eye-bolts and ring connections 27 to the central section B, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The sections A, B, and O are provided respectively with said bars a, Z), and 0, approximately of the plan outline shown in Fig. 1, and arranged to suit ably support the usual transversely-disposed tooth bars a 6 c Vertically extending supporting frames F comprise each a pair of spaced angle bars 9 rigidly connected at their lower terminals, by means of headed bolts 12*, to pivot plates 12, said frames being'adapted for sliding vertical movement in bearing blocks 2 through which extend in fixed relation the ends of the axle 1, said bearing blocks 2 being provided with outwardly-extending spindles 3 on which the harrow wheels 4' revolve.

Formed on the terminals of the middle tooth bar of the central section B are bearing pivots b looselyseated in apertures 12 icentrally disposed in plates. 12 of frames F, the construction providing for free longitudinal oscillation of said section between frames F, and permitting said section to automatically accommodate itself to the surface of the ground being harrowed, as is evident.

Desired limitation of the oscillation of the central section is accomplished by seating the heads of bolts 12 in horizontallydisposed channels 6 formed in the side bars I) of'the central section, the heads of the bolts 12 engaging the upper or lower walls of said channels as the forward end of the said section is elevated or lowered beyond normal horizontal position, and preventing excessive oscillation of the section, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.

Extending transversely of the machine and mounted for revolution in bearing blocks 23, disposed between the bars 9 im mediately above block 2, is a squared operating or lifting shaft 14, said shaft being provided with fixed bushing 24 adapted to bear for revolution in appropriate bearings 23 formed in the bearing block 23, the function of said shaft being, in cooperation with other parts about to be described, to provide for vertical adjustment of the frames F and incidental raising of the central section B.

Positioned adjacent the ends of shaft 14: and secured in fixed relation thereto are sheaves 16, to which, in any desired manner,

is connected one end of chains 17, the other c. section B, as obvious.

To'accomplish rotation of shaft 14 and consequent raising of frames F, I fixedly secure on shaft 14, adjacent one of the sheaves 16, a ratchet wheel 18, on the hub of which is mountedfor revolution a bearing ring 19 formed integrally with which is an upwardly-extending controlling lever 19, provided adjacent the ratchet wheel with pawl 20 operated by the usual releasing rod 20*, said pawl being adapted, subsequent to a forward throw of said lever, to engage one of the teeth of said ratchet and, incidental to a backward pull on the lever, rotate the ratchet and connected shaft 14 1 and cause a portion of chains 17 to wind on sheaves 16 and lift frames F and the central section B, a sufficient number of double throws 'of said lever being made-of course to lift the section to the height desired.

It being obviously advantageous to maintain the frames F and central section B at times in continued elevated position, it is desirable to provide means to positively lock the frames F and central section B in such position until expedient tolower them and such means comprise a locking plate 22 pivotally mounted on a bearing block 21 rigidly secured onbrace bar 1, said plate being formed with a centrally-disposed longitudinal slot 22 through which the'ratchet I 18 projects a suflicient distance to insure the engagement of any of itsteeth with the beveled end wall 22 of said slot, the said wall of the locking plate being held normally in said engagement through the medium of the frames F, is an upwardly-projecting standard 6 designed to support a bearing for the inner ends of lifting rods 8, the function of the-latter being to raise the side sections of the harrow to disengage said sections from brush and the like collected in travel or for purposes of transportation. Mounted in the upper end of the standard 6 are trunnion blocks 7 provided with trunnions 7 working in appropriate bearings in said blocks.

As shown, the rods 8 extend laterally and upwardly from the blocks 7 and project through apertures 10? formed in plates 10 connecting the upper ends of the angle bars 9 of the frames F, said rods being bent adjacent their outer terminals to form downwardly-extending arms 8 approximately at right angles to the main portion of the rods and terminally provided with connecting members, as hooks 8 which engage the upper end of chains 13, the lower ends of which are attached to the central tooth bars of the sect-ions A and C respectively at approximately their central points, said lifting chains being provided intermediate their ends with links 13*, for a purpose to be later explained. Lever standards, denoted by25, embrace rods 8 and are bolted to the latter in such manner that a rearward pull on either of levers 26, securely attached to said standards, will cause that rod 8 to which said lever is connected to rotate in its block 7 sufficiently to throw the arm 8 forwardly and upwardly and exert a pull on chain 13 and swing the section to which said chain is attached upwardly onits hinge connection 27. In the event that it is desired to main tain said section in elevated position, as when traveling over a road, the section will be elevated sufiiciently to permit engagement of links 13 with hooks 8 it being understood of course that previously to said raising of the side sections, the central section has been elevated by means of levers 19 and locked in raised position by locking plate 22.

To give rigidity to the bearing blocks 2 and provide a stable bearing for the frames F to slide in, brace rods 31 are securely attached to tongue 5 and extend to and are fixedly connected with said blocks. A hanger bar 32 is attached to the under side of the tongue and extends downwardly to form a-support for an evener bar 28, which is slidable on a guide rod 33, extending through the tongue and evener bar, the lower end of said rod being adapted for movement in a slot (not shown) formed lengthwise the horizontal member of the hanger bar 82 to permit said guide rod to accommodate itself to upward movement of the evener bar, to the up or side of which is centrally secured a bearing block 28 on which the double-tree (not shown) is designed to bear, a collar 28 suitably fixed on rod 33 above said double-tree preventing undesired vertical play of the latter. Links 29 connect the draft bars 29 with the evener bar 28 and similar links 30 connect the draft bars with the side bars a, b, and 0 of the harrow sect-ions, in such a way that one of the draft bars is connected to both sides of one inner section and one side of central section, the other draft bar being connected to both sides of the other inner section and the other side of the central section, said connections permitting of a hitch closely adjacent the harrow, as desired.

From the foregoing it will be evident that I have provided a barrow comprising a central section adapted to automatically adapt itself to the irregularities of the ground being worked, and side sections adapted to be raised or lowered at the will of the operator through the medium of convenient levers operating in the direction of travel of the machine, and means for positively locking the sections in raised position, said sections being adapted to be adjusted simultaneously or independently, as desired, while it will also be evident that I have made provision for an advantageous hitch connection, reducing the usual heavy draft of vehicles of this type.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is A lifter frame for riding harrows comprising opposite pairs of vertical bars, plates at the lower ends of the respective pairs of bars, each plate having a transverse central hole adapted to accommodate a pivot, and headed bolts connecting said plates with said bars; in combination with channel bars adjacent to the plates respectively and accommodating the heads of said bolts within the channels of said bars, and tooth bars connected with said channel bars, one of said tooth bars being pivotally mounted in the holes in said plates and the extent of the oscillation of said channel bars being determined by the edges of said bolts engaging on the walls of said channel bars.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN R. HOWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing' the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

